Direct-drive transmission.



- A w. n. PARSONS, DEICID.

5. L. MIARVIN, EXECUTOR. DIRECT DRIVE TRANSMISSION.

urucplou map we. 16'. 1 914. Patented AD! 20, 19'15.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1,.

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Patented Apr. 20, 1915. B SHEETS-SHEET 2 """iI/VEM 4/1747" E. MARVIN,EXECUTOR. DIRECTDRIVE' TRANSMISSION. APPLICATION FILED JAN-J6, 1914.

WITNESSES I 6 iinirnn snares PATENT curren- WILLIAM n. masons, or.romncr, monrriivayn. L. Marv n, or .roLIE'r, MONTANA nxncoron. or sumraasons,.nnonasnn.

manor-na ve TRANSMISSION.

Specificationof Letters Patent;

Patented A r.',2o, 1915.

Application filed January 16, 1914. Serial No. 812,409. v

To allwizom it may concern: 3 p Y Be it known that I, WILLIAM J). PAR-SONS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident. of Joliet, in thecounty of Carbon My invention relates to direct drive transmissionmechanism,a' nd it consists in the combinations, constructions" andarrange mentsherein described and claimed. I

Anobject of my invention is to provide a device which is particularlyadapted for use with automobiles or other motor driven,

vehicles in which final drives of different speeds are provided insteadof, the ordinary single final drive.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for shifting thedriveshaft of the motor or engine from one position to variousfin'aldrives.

A further object of my invention is to provide a mechanism of the typedescribed which will do away with the complicated transmission mechanismand the gear. shifting devices therefor and the consequent noiseoccasioned thereby, in speed changing mechanism of the ordinary type.

- Other objects and advantages will appear in the followingspecification and the novel features of the device will be particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings plicati'on inwhicha Figure 15 is a. substantially horizontal section of a portion'of'my improved transmission mechanism'near the rear aXle, Fig. 1 is asubstantially horizontal section" of a portion of the transmissionmechanism showing its connection with the engine shaft, Fig. 2 is a faceview of a portion of the transmission mechanism shown in'Fig. 1, Fig. 3is a section along the line 3-.3 of Fig.1 a portion of the drivesha'ft'being shown in relation thereto, lllig. 4k is a section along theline H oflFig. 1, Fig. 5 is a section along' the line 5-=5 of Fig."'6Fig.

I 6 is a vertical section through a portion of the transmissionmechanism substantially along! the l ne 66 of Fig. l, and Fig. 7 'is aperspective v1ew showlng a poranother in order to engage and operate theforming part-of this ap tion of the means for locking the operating"lever in: position.

In carrying out my invention I make use The. sleeve 2; is surrounded bya second sleeve 7, which is provided with a grooved collar 8 partlyencircled by a yoke 9. The sleeve 7 terminates in a hemispherical head10 which is engaged by the hemispherical end 11 of an inner casing 12.The members 10 and 11 are curved on an arc whose center lies in the axisof the pivotal member 4. The. inner casing'l2 engages collars .6 on theshaft 6, so that when the casing 12 is moved the shaft 6 is moved withit. I

Surrounding the drive shaft 6 is a tubular shaft 13 which carries atoneend an integral gear 14.. The opposite end of the tubular shaft 13 isextended at 13 to'inclose the inner casing member 12 and again at 13" itis fashioned in a hemispherical shell having teeth 15 arranged to engagea gear 16 :which is mounted on a hub 17. Thedatter sleeve 5 which iskeyed t0 a drive shaft 6.

nor shown in F ig's; 1 and 1*. The casingl9 is secured to the cas'ing'20which incloses the parts which cooperate with the drive shaft 6 and thetubular shaft 13.

' Carried-partly by the casing member '20 and partly by the casingmember 19 is a stationary circular-shaped guide member 21 which isprovided fat its center with an in-- tegral gear 22.v The member 21 isprovided avith, openings 23 which are arranged to registerwithinternally fluted sockets 24: at the ends of stub, shafts'25 whichare joinnated in bearings 26 (see Fig. 3) andea ch of which bears a Worm27. As will be seen from Fig. 2 there are four of these openings andthere are consequently four vof the stub 4 shafts 25. As will be seen inFig. t three oi'=-the sockets .24 are disposed on one side of the axle28, the remaining socket being disposed on the opposite side... One ofthe worms is arranged to engage alargeworm wheel 30'on the shaft 28 togive a low for.- ward drive, another engages a worm 31 of smallerdiameter to give an intermediate drive, and a thirdengages the wheel 32to give a high speed forward, while the fourth 'worm engages the largegear or worm wheel 33 to give a reverse drive at low speed.

The shaft 28 extends through bearings 34 at the ends of the casing 2Q.Referring now to Fig.6 it will be seen thatthe yoke. 9 is' connectedwith a slidable bar 35, which is mounted to move in guides 36. The bar35 is provided with notches which are indicated at R, H, L and I. Thesenotches correspond to reverse, high speed, low speed and intermediatespeed respectively' Disposed parallel'with and adjacent to the bar-'35is another slidable bar 37. This is provided with a single notch 37.Upon the bar 37 is pivotally mounted an operating lever 38, which hasits fulcrum at 39. The fulcrum. 39 is itself carried by the dependingend of-a pivot bolt'40 which, passes through the bar 37, as shown inFig; 6. The lever 38 is provided with an extension 38 which is disposedat an angle to the main body portion, vas shown in Fig.6, and whichextends into the notched head 41 of a slidable locking pin 41. Thelatter is arranged to extend into openings 42 in a lockingbar 42 whoseends are secured between the frame members 36,." o

' The bar 37 has teeth 37 arranged to mesh with the gear 18 which ismounted on a shaft 17", the latter bearing also the gear 16.

From the foregoing description. of the various parts of the device theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

The rotation of the drive shaft. 1 causes 40 the rotation of the driveshaft 6 through the medium of the universal joint: Normally theoperating lever 38 is in the notch 37 in he slidable bar 37 in whichcase the lockingpin 41 is withdrawn from the locking bar 45 42, sincethe'lever-is then in the dotted'line position shown in Fig. 6. If now,it is desired to shift the lever so as to throw the drive shaft 6 intoposition to operate the vehicle at low speed the lever is forced in thedirection. shown by the arrow in Fig. 5 until it is opposite the notchL. Now it will be observed. that when the lever 38 is in the notch 37 itdoes not act as a lever, but as a rigid handle, since it is held at twopoints,

to wit: the pivot bolt 40- and the walls of the notch 37 Therefore thebar 37 will move in the-direction in which-the lever is forced. Themovement of the bar 37, which, as stated before, is provided with teeth'37",

thereby constituting a rack, causes the revo lution of the gear 18 andthe gear 16. The .turnin of the latter gear causes the revolu tion 0.the tubular shaft 13, and this will 4 'cause the gear 14 to travelaround the gear 22 until it comes directly opposite an opening'23 whichregisters' with the socket 24- is moved, and with it the yoke 9, thesleeve 7, casing member. 12, and the shaft 6 bodily,

the upper end of the shaft sliding in the sleeve member 5 towhich it iskeyed. A clutch member43 is carried-by the end of the shaft fi andenters the socket 24. The

rotation of the shaft 1 will now cause the driving of the vehicle at.low speed through the medium of the shaft 6, clutch members 43 and 24,worm 27, worm wheel 30 and axle 28.

[ In changing from one speed'to another it 1 i is only necessary toreverse. this operation.

Thus, the lever. 38 is moved so as to cause the bar 3.5 to move in adirection. opposite to'that' shown in Fig; -5, thus withdrawing theclutch member 43 from engagement with its clutch member 24. The

lever is now pushed'over' into. the-notch 37,

any. of the'other notches. It will be observed that when the lever 38 isin the notch 2 37 the clutch member 43inust be withdrawn from the clutchmember 24 and hence it follows that one must always go to neutral whenshifting from one speed to the other.

Iclaimz V 1., In "a direct drive transmission mechanism, an engineshaft, an axle, aplurality of worm wheels of different size carried bysaid axle, a plurality'of rotatable stub shafts, the axis of each ofsaid stub shafts being at right angles to the axle and said axesbeing-arranged in a circle, a s cket carried by each ofgsaid stubshafts, a. driveshaft having a connection for universal movement withrespect to said. engine shaft,

a clutch member carried by said drive shaft, said drive shaft beingmounted so as to bring its clutch member into registration with any ofsaid sockets, means for moving said drive" shaft bodily to 'cause itsclutch member to enter the registering socket, said last named meanscomprising a tubular shaft surrounding said drive shaft, a gear carriedby said tubular shaft, and-a cylindrical.stationary guidemember having acentrally disposed gear arranged to'been..-

gaged by the gearon said tubular shaft, and means for. rotating saidtubular shaft.

2. In a direct driveytransmission mechanism, an engine shaft, an axle, aplurality of worm wheels of different size carriedby 95 thus withdrawingthe locking pin and per.- i mittin the movement of the rack bar 37 tosaid axle, a plurality of rotatable stub shaftathe axisof' each of saidstub shafts being at right angles to the axle and said axes beingarranged in a circle, a socket carcentrally disposed gear arranged to beengaged by the gear on said tubular shaft,

-means for rotating said tubular shaft, and addltional means for movingsaid drive shaft longitudinally. v

3. In a transmission mechanism, an engine shaft, a drive shaft having auniversal connection with said engine shaft, a tubular shaft surroundingsaid drive shaft, means for rotating said tubular shaft, a gear carri'edby said tubular shaft, a cylindrical sta-' tionary guide member having acentrally disposed gear arranged to'be engaged by the gear on thetubular shaft, said guide member having openings, an axle, driving meansfor said axle including sockets arranged to register with the openingsin said guide throu gh-any member, and means for moving said" driveshaft longitudinally to project its gear of said openings into theregistering socket.

4. In a transmission mechanism, an engine shaft, a drive shaft having auniversal connection with said engine shaft, a tubular shaft surroundingsaid drive shaft, means for rotating said tubular shaft,- a gear carriedby said tubular shaft, a cylindrical Stationary guide member having acentrally disposed gear arranged to be engagedby'the gear on thetubularshaft, said guide member having openings, an axle, driving meansfor said axle including sockets arranged to register with the openingsin said guide member, means for moving said drive shaft longitudinallyto project its gear through any of said openings into the registeringsocket, said last named means comprising a sleeve slidably disposed 'onsaid engine shaft, a yoke for operating said sleeve, an

inner casing surrounding said drive shaft to permit the rotation of thelatter and hav ing means to engage said drive shaft to effect alongitudinal movement of the shaft, and connections between the sleeveand the inner casing;

5. The combination of a slidable rack bar provided with a notch, a leverpivotally connected with said rack bar and arranged to enter the notch,a slidablebar disposed ad- .jacent to said slidable rack bar and beingprovided with a plurality of notches ar-" ranged to receive said lever,a yoke carried by said last named slidable bar, a transmission mechanismarranged to be actuated by said yoke, a pinion meshing with the rackbar,means actuated by the yoke and pinion for controlling the transmissionmechanism, and means for locking said rack bar in position when thelever is in'one of the notches on the bar carrying the yoke.'

6. The combination of a slidable rack bar provided with a notch, a leverpivotally connected with said rack bar and arranged to enter .the'notch,a slidable bar. disposedadjaceht to said slidable rack bar and beingprovided with a plurality of notches arranged to receive said lever, ayoke carried by said last named slidable bar, a transmission mechanismarranged to be actuated by said yoke, a pinion meshing with the rackbar, means actuated by the yoke and pinion for controlling thetransmission mechanism,

means forlocking said rack bar in position when the lGVE-I is in oneofthe notches on the bar carrying the yoke, said locking means comprisinga locking bar having perforations, corresponding to the notches on saidbar carrying .the yoke, and a pin on the lever and slidably carried ,bysaid rack bar bar.

NILLIAM D. PARSONS.- Witnesses:

G. A. Lovnnme, R. L. Snrrson.

said locking and adapted 'to enter the perforations in

